The Jerusalem Cross or Jerusalem Memorial Cross (german: Jerusalem-Kreuz; ''Jerusalem-Erinnerungskreuz'') was a decoration of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

established 31 October 1898. The cross was awarded to those who traveled with

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

on his 1898 visit to Palestine and attended the inauguration of the

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer ( he, כנסיית הגואל, ar, الكنيسة اللوثرية في القدس, german: Erlöserkirche) is the second Protestant church in Jerusalem (the first being Christ Church near Jaffa Gate). It is ...

Insignia

The Jerusalem Cross is made in the shape of the

Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold Cross", or "cross-and-crosslets") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant. It was used as the ...

. The cross consists of a large cross portent with four plain crosslets between the arms. The crosses are red enameled with silver-gilt borders. In the center of the cross is a round gold colored medallion. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

side, the medallion depicts the Imperial Crown of the Prussian German Emperor surmounting the letters ''IR'' (''Imperator Rex'') over the royal cypher of a stylized ''W II''. The reverse of the medallion bears the date 31 October 1898. This date is depicted using a large

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

X in the center for October, and a small Roman numeral XXXI at the top. To the left is MDCCC and to the right side IIC for the year 1898.

References

{{Orders and decorations of the Kingdom of Prussia Orders, decorations, and medals of Prussia 1898 establishments in Germany Awards established in 1898

Insignia

See also

References